The revolution is postponed because of the epidemic, but it’s not over. The longing for freedom and democracy will reassert itself but it will not do so automatically. Unless the longing reasserts itself our democratic futures are in jeopardy.
Hala is not a Coronavirus victim, but rather a victim of the delayed justice that has deprived her of seeing her son or even hearing his voice over the phone. Her story is one of many others that occur on a daily basis due to the inability of some judges to consider urgent cases.
Both public opinion and the authorities denounced Mais Hamdan’s commercial based on the principle that states that it is unacceptable for a woman to admire a man’s body, whereas Ramez Galal’s offensive behavior towards his guest, describing her as “divorced”, went unnoticed.
It is indeed such situations of crisis that show us the cruelty of the patriarchal system and its institutional ramification. The abysmal failure of our states to protect women and curb gender based violence can no longer be hidden or excused. What the crisis has showed us is that feminist organizing is not only live and kicking but also creative and resilient and saves lives.
“I don’t visit you because I want to protect you and protect myself,” Ward said, explaining to his family the reason behind his absence. What he said carried only partly some truth, but the main reason he didn’t visit was Ward’s need to avoid hearing his parents calling him by his old name, or humiliating him based on anything related to his homosexuality..
“Whenever I remember how negative the police officer’s attitude was, I laugh and cry at the same time. As I told him that my husband had kicked me out of the house, his response was to tell me to go back home, because the ‘Coronavirus’ is everywhere! Is there a coronavirus more dangerous to my health than being beaten and deprived of my child without any valid reason or right?!”
While holding the XX chromosomes makes your immunity stronger, and gives you a higher life expectancy, as statistics show, being a female exposes you to higher risks of cultural, social and economic discrimination that sideline you and your wellbeing in the response of many countries to COVID19 pandemic.
There are many regime apologists out there. We are constantly being hammered by advice to take the intentions of the power that be at face value, give them a chance, they say… Yes, a pathetic nationality law petition has been thrown out there with much publicity to the extent that it has been convincing for some… Yet, the lived realities of women, their experiences of injustice, exclusion and discrimination have not changed but rather worsened.
